Briefs

State

Agency To Seek Deportation BRIDGEPORT -- A city woman accused of fraudulently receiving $38,143 in welfare benefits while employed was arrested Wednesday, state officials said.

Maria Cordova, 43, is charged with first-degree larceny and first-degree conspiracy to commit larceny by defrauding a public community.

Cordova and another person are accused of acting together to illegally obtain welfare benefits, prosecutors said.

She was arrested after the Department of Social Services filed a complaint with the chief state's attorney's office.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service will seek to deport a Colombian national accused of kidnapping a 13-year- old Ohio girl he met via the Internet.

Leonel Bueno-Avila, 42, of East Hartford, should already have been deported because he had two felony convictions, but he may have been overlooked because he served no prison time, said Michael J. Rendon, assistant officer in charge of the service.

Bueno-Avila, who has a green card, is being held without bail pending extradition to Ohio. He was arrested a week ago at his apartment at 229 Ellington Road on a charge of transporting a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity.

The parents of the Fostoria, Ohio, girl reported her missing the morning of May 14. Using records on the girl's computer, police tracked her to the apartment.